club amnesia

"It's good." he said, as he sat down onto the wicker chair. "It's great. I just don't want you to feel like we're fucking you over or anything."

it was clear from his tone of voice that he was trying to pass off this expression as sarcastic; but then again, he could've been genuine as well, you thought to yourself. you were really never the biggest expert in reading people’s authenticity of intent. you decided to stand your ground anyway. there were two choices in front of you. you could either try to match his playfulness level and laughingly let him know that you categorize this situation as yourself getting fucked over but you are okay with it; or as an alternative you can just be assuringly calm and collected to reinforce the validity of the claim.

you go with the second method.

"Well", you say, toughening up ever so slightly on your wicker chair, "I do think I'm getting fucked over."

the first second is priceless. you see his expression change for a milisecond before he realizes himself. in the second second, you have to assure the conversation, you know that. you hold your ground, don't change the mood, and calmly say:

"But it's okay."

there are no inflections on the tone of your voice, no pitch changes to indicate an uncertainty. you decorated every word with the same purpose. and you see the effect immediately. he believes it. he doesn't realize why, or quite understand perhaps, but he believes you more than he did a second ago.

"I understand the situation. I don't take it personally."

the sentence you had to sell has seen the sun. it was done. all the preperation was for this moment. you have no time to explore the aftermath, though, because you have to now say this:

"I don't think there is a bad guy here. You saw an optimization of profits. You pushed for it. I did not push as hard. To me, that's fair."

now, you give yourself the chance to look at him properly. the words have been shared. he has heard. processed. double-checked. understood.

he nods his head.

you order some coffee.